Saudi Arabia

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OPEC May Boost Oil Output to Ease Prices

Cartel may meet early and backpedal on current policy

(Newser) - As crude hit $125 a barrel today, one OPEC member said the cartel may boost oil production to relieve prices, the New York Times reports. The move would conflict with OPEC's public stand that speculators, not oil supplies, have been keeping prices high. “We would consider among other options...

Blasts Accompany Crippling Lebanon Strike

Casualties unclear as workers demand higher wages amid government crisis

(Newser) - Explosions and gunfire sounded throughout Beirut today as a politically charged workers' strike turned violent. A Hezbollah-led opposition party had called for a one-day general strike, ostensibly for higher wages, the BBC reports. But things soon turned ugly, with flaming barricades along major roads, and gunfire between various factions in...

Mozart Helps Snap Saudi Taboos

Mixed-gender concert signals opening to outside world

(Newser) - Mozart hasn't challenged cultural taboos for more than 200 years, but last night he caused quite a stir in Saudi Arabia. A German-based quartet gave the nation its first public classical concert where men were allowed to hear Mozart and sit next to, gasp, women. "The concert is a...

Gas-Tax Break Shameful Policy
Gas-Tax Break Shameful Policy
OPINION
Apr 30, 2008 5:29 PM CDT

Gas-Tax Break Shameful Policy

McCain-Clinton pandering just another indication of backward US attitude

(Newser) - The “McCain-Clinton” gas-tax vacation is an abomination of energy policy, Thomas Friedman declares in the New York Times. “This is money laundering: We borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks.”...

Mecca Time Plugged for World Standard

Muslim scholars say British-imposed GMT due for a change

(Newser) - A group of Muslim scholars wants Mecca time to replace Greenwich Mean Time as the world's default setting, the BBC reports. As Islam’s holiest city lies in perfect longitudinal alignment to magnetic north, scientists told a Qatar conference that Mecca was the “true” center of the earth. GMT,...

Guardian System Has Saudi Women 'Perpetual Minors'

Doing almost anything requires male consent in kingdom, report finds

(Newser) - Women in Saudi Arabia need to gain a male guardian’s consent to do almost anything, living as “perpetual minors,” the Telegraph reports. Research by Human Rights Watch found that male permission is needed to go to a doctor, travel, and even get dressed. In addition, strict segregation...

Osama Bin Laden 'Alive &amp; Well'
 Osama Bin Laden 'Alive & Well' 
Apr 3, 2008 4:25 AM CDT

Osama Bin Laden 'Alive & Well'

Deputy touts his health on internet

(Newser) - Seven years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is alive and well, according to his deputy. "Sheik Osama bin Laden is in good health. The ill-intentioned always try to circulate false reports about him being sick," said Ayman al-Zawahiri in a 104-minute recording posted on the internet. The comments...

How Osama Rejected His Family's Values
How Osama Rejected His
Family's Values
Book Review
Apr 1, 2008 1:20 PM CDT

How Osama Rejected His Family's Values

Author examines bin Laden's roots, Saudi clan's ties to US

(Newser) - Osama is the most famous of the bin Ladens, but he’s also the clan's black sheep. In his new book, The bin Ladens, Steve Coll explores the sprawling family, which is so different from its most famous scion that Osama’s war takes on a Freudian dimension. The book...

Fatah and Hamas Sign Deal, But Feuding Continues

Rival Palestinian factions bicker over control of Gaza

(Newser) - In a second attempt to mend fences, rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas agreed to resume direct talks today to resolve disputes and revive their failed coalition. A Hamas official called the deal “a new beginning and the start of a new stage,” but just hours after signing...

In Saudi Arabia, a Hotel for Women

Men-free Luthan Hotel 'meeting a very big demand' in conservative Muslim kingdom

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia’s first hotel catering exclusively to women—right down to its plush spa—opened this week in Riyadh, the Independent reports. The conservative kingdom enforces strict Islamic segregation of sexes in public, but women can stay at the Luthan Hotel without a male guardian—nor any men on...

Pope Pushing for Church in Saudi Arabia

Islam's holy ground could be ready to open up

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI is lobbying Saudi Arabia to let a Catholic church on its soil, Time reports. The Vatican confirms that it's discussing forging diplomatic relations with the Saudis, but a house of worship would be a major coup in a country where all religions besides Sunni Islam are banned.

Saudi Video Protests Driver Ban
Saudi Video Protests Driver Ban
Mar 11, 2008 7:15 PM CDT

Saudi Video Protests Driver Ban

YouTube clip shows woman driver calling for change in law

(Newser) - Activists have posted a video online to protest the Saudi ban on women drivers, the BBC reports. Made to honor International Women’s Day, the 3-minute clip on YouTube follows protester Wajeha Huwaider as she turns onto a forbidden highway and discusses the legality of the ban. “Many women...

Qatar Navigates Persian Gulf Minefield

Geography forces balancing act; gas wealth make it a player

(Newser) - The challenges of being Qatar, a peninsular nation bordering Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, could be a hint of the diplomatic discourse to come, Bloomberg reports. The emirate cannily attends to the demands of its Saudi and Iranian neighbors, and it hosts US military forces; it also has learned...

Oil Hits $104; OPEC Won't Budge
Oil Hits $104; OPEC Won't Budge
UPDATED
Mar 5, 2008 3:57 PM CST

Oil Hits $104; OPEC Won't Budge

Cartel president blames 'mismanagement' of US economy for rising prices

(Newser) - Crude oil rose to a record $104.52 a barrel today after OPEC decided to hold production steady. “The oil market is currently stable,” said Saudi Arabia’s oil minister. “There is no need to increase even one barrel of oil.” The cartel blamed sky-high prices...

Berkeley, Stanford Partner with Saudi University

American schools to help develop science and technology graduate school

(Newser) - Berkeley and Stanford University will help choose faculty and develop curricula for a new university in Saudi Arabia, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The graduate-level King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, funded by a $10 billion gift from the king, will focus on fields like petrochemicals and nano-technology...

Who's Funding Bush's Library?
Who's Funding Bush's Library?
OPINION
Mar 4, 2008 2:40 PM CST

Who's Funding Bush's Library?

Money coming in during presidency raises concerns over quid pro quo

(Newser) - President Bush's coy refusal to name the mystery donors helping to erect his $200 million presidential library is problematic, writes David Corn in Mother Jones' MoJo blog. Though the law doesn't require him to reveal names, his actions raise serious ethical questions. "What's problematic is the prospect of a...

57 Saudi Men Arrested for Flirting
57 Saudi Men Arrested
for Flirting
Feb 23, 2008 1:03 PM CST

57 Saudi Men Arrested for Flirting

Prosecutors say they exhibited 'bad' behavior to woo girls at malls

(Newser) - Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested 57 young men accused of flirting with girls at shopping malls in Mecca, the BBC reports. Prosecutors say the men wore indecent clothing, played loud music, and danced to attract the girls’ attention. The arrests were prompted by Saudi’s Commission for the Promotion of...

Saudis Killed Arms Probe Under Blair

Prince threatened to withhold terror info; predicted 'another 7/7'

(Newser) - The Saudi royal family threatened to withhold information about planned terrorist attacks on London unless British authorities suspended an investigation into corrupt arms deals, court documents show. Prince Bandar flew to London in December 2006 to warn investigators they faced "another 7/7," referring to the four bombs that...

Saudi Officials See Red Over Valentine's Day

'Immoral' holiday sparks temporary ban on color

(Newser) - In preparation for Valentine's Day, Saudi Arabia has temporarily banned all things red. The morality cops are out in force in search of the color of love, reports CNN, with plans to confiscate everything from flowers to stuffed toys. The ban is part of a yearly effort, complete with raids...

Saudi Religious Cops Toss US Exec in Pokey

Her crime? Sitting with a male colleague at Starbucks

(Newser) - A 37-year-old American businesswoman says Saudi Arabia's religious police swooped her out of a Riyadh Starbucks and bundled her off to jail, where she was strip searched, humiliated, and bullied into signing confessions, reports the Times of London—all for sharing a table with a male colleague when the Internet...

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